


Avoidance

by Reeseykins



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 13:33:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6008143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reeseykins/pseuds/Reeseykins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erwin thinks that Levi is avoiding him.  He isn't wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Avoidance

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Eruri Week 2016 - Day 1: Post-ACWNR.
> 
> I've already written on this topic at length so this was just a little something different.

At first, Erwin thought Levi must be giving him a wide berth because he was grieving. He was clearly a private person, and on top of that had just lost the two people he was closest to in the world, people he probably considered family. Erwin knew how it felt to lose people you loved, and so he left him to his own devices, not wanting to push or pry. Levi’s allegiance to the Survey Corps was, at least in Erwin’s mind, still rather fragile; he didn’t want to make him uncomfortable and risk driving him out.

A week passed, then another, and still Levi seemed to be making himself scarce. Something about it didn’t seem right. Surely, if Levi had been skipping out on training sessions, Erwin would have heard about it. Although he had been reassigned to a new squad following his first mission, everyone – Erwin included – considered Levi to be Erwin’s responsibility. So, if he wasn’t missing his required activities, why had Erwin barely seen him in two weeks?

Whatever was going on – whether Levi was enduring self-imposed isolation or was truly having trouble fitting in with his new comrades – Erwin was determined to set it right.

He woke up early the next day and headed out to the yard to join the soldiers for calisthenics. As a Squad Leader, he was no longer required to participate in the rank and file’s daily routines, but today he was hoping to find the elusive Levi amongst the troops.

To his surprise, he located him quickly, smack in the middle of a row of soldiers doing jumping jacks in time with everyone else. When they broke into pairs for crunches, he noted how Levi easily paired up with one of the others, a girl whose name Erwin hadn’t yet learned. He had expected Levi to be obstinate, or at least anti-social, but if the morning workout was indicative of his attitude, then he was clearly mistaken. He slipped off to the showers before Levi could see him, hoping to catch him over breakfast and maybe get a chance to talk to him.

He showered quick, but his morning debrief with Commander Shadis took longer than he anticipated, and by the time he got to the mess hall the soldiers were slowly starting to clear out. He saw Levi as soon as he walked in, eating a biscuit rather delicately while the other soldiers around him shoveled food into their mouths with abandon. Their eyes locked for a moment, and Levi’s eyes went wide, as if in a sudden state of shock at having been discovered by Erwin. The moment stretched on into absurdity; Erwin felt like they were the only two people in the room.

The bell rung loud, signaling the official end to the meal, and Levi leapt out of his seat and bolted out the side entrance, leaving Erwin standing in the middle of a sea of soldiers feeling like the air had just been knocked out of him.

He was still mulling it over a few hours later as he made his way to the training course, determined to check on Levi there. When he arrived he took up a position on the ground, waiting and watching for Levi to appear. Nanaba came rushing past, executing a tight turn before landing on a platform high above him. Mike was hot on her heels, swinging up to land next to her with a softness that seemed impossible for a man of his size. They acknowledged him from their vantage point and then turned to look out over the course, drawing Erwin’s gaze down the length of it. In the distance he saw what they were looking for – Levi, his movements so fast he seemed to appear and disappear in the blink of an eye, like the wings of a hummingbird beating too fast to see.

Erwin was struck by his grace, just as he had when he’d first seen him use the gear in the underground. For someone who had so little training, his confident movements and razor-sharp precision seemed divinely gifted. He alighted on the platform after a final corkscrew spin, and Erwin could see even from a distance that he looked as calm and unruffled by the exertion as if he’d just been reading a book.

After exchanging a few words with Mike and Nanaba, Levi’s head jerked in Erwin’s direction. They locked eyes as they had before in the mess hall, but this time only for a second as Levi fired off his gear and flew off the platform back the way he’d come without so much as a nod in Erwin’s direction.

Erwin stared after him, now completely convinced that something wasn’t right. He thought about maybe chasing after him, but that seemed dramatic – what he needed was more information. He fired his gear up and swung up to the platform, where Mike and Nanaba were still waiting.

“Any idea what that was about?” he asked them, inclining his head at Levi’s figure, now just a speck of black in the distance.

“He’s avoiding you,” Mike stated matter-of-factly.

Erwin’s eyebrows shot up. Mike usually didn’t pull any punches, but regardless, he was surprised he had such a direct answer.

“He said that to you?”

“No,” Mike replied. “Sort of.” Mike lapsed into silence, and Erwin looked to Nanaba, hoping she could pick up where he’d left off.

“He’s an asshole sometimes,” she said with a shrug. “He seems pretty dedicated though. He’s started coming out of his shell, getting along with people.” 

“That’s good,” Erwin nodded. He was surprised at how thrilled he was to hear that Levi was doing well. He’d hoped that would be the case, but having seen so little of him it had been hard to be sure.

“Any time anyone mentions you though – he clams right up. It’s the strangest thing …” she started, but then let the thought hang unfinished in the air.

Later that night, Erwin was still turning the events of the day over and over in his mind. He had been trying, unsuccessfully, to finalize a proposal for the next mission, but his thoughts kept wandering to Levi. After spending another fruitless half-hour getting nothing productive done, he got up from his desk and paced the room a few times, then at last decided that he’d go up to the roof for some fresh air.

A few minutes later, Erwin burst out onto the roof, and knew instantly that he wasn’t alone. At the other end of the roof, perched on one of the parapet walls looking up into the night sky, was Levi.

“How’d you know I was up here?”

“I didn’t,” Erwin answered honestly. Levi glanced at him sidelong, seemingly weighing Erwin’s response before relaxing ever so slightly.

“May I?” Erwin gestured at the spot beside him and waited for Levi’s nod of permission before taking a seat.

A few minutes passed in silence before Erwin decided on what he wanted to say. 

“Have you been avoiding me, Levi?”

Levi’s head jerked at his voice, but he avoided looking in his direction, eyes focused out into the distance. “I figured you wouldn’t want to see me.”

“Why would you think that?” he asked, all seriousness, although he suspected he already knew the answer. He could see the muscles tense in Levi’s jaw as he considered his response. 

“Because I tried to kill you.”

Of all the things he had considered might be keeping Levi away, guilt had never crossed his mind. It was a shocking moment of insight into Levi’s personality that he hadn’t seen before, and it fascinated him. Here was a man who was both unshakably cool and explosively violent – but he was clearly also of strong moral character, and that made him exceptionally unique.

“I admire you, Levi. I can’t pretend to know everything about your life before, but I have a sense, and after everything you’ve been through – to come back here… . Well, it’s incredible.”

A flash of astonishment lit up Levi’s face, but it was gone in an instant and his face was arranged back into a cool mask.

“Yeah, well. What the fuck else am I going to do with myself?”

Erwin scoffed, but they shared a look that seemed to catch them both again, frozen in time. 

“I’d like a chance to get to know you better, Levi. I think we could make a great team.”

He wasn’t sure what exactly had possessed him to say that, and instantly he wanted to bite down on his tongue until it bled. Levi narrowed his eyebrows and turned to look at him with an unreadable expression. He’d overstepped; he’d pushed too hard, and now he was sure Levi was going to tell him to fuck off and die.

Instead, Levi nodded his head in agreement.

“Yeah. Don’t get any funny ideas though,” Levi added. 

He could tell he was trying to make a joke, but it fell flat. It made him laugh anyways.


End file.
